


Saviour, Part III

by elfin



Series: Survivor [3]
Category: Brimstone
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 05:40:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12101958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfin/pseuds/elfin
Summary: The Devil can't let go....





	Saviour, Part III

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the 2001 fic, Snakes Crossing. Completely re-written

Despite reassuring Ezekiel that he was okay, following the attempt to end his existence by four of his wayward souls, it had been a week since the Devil had put in an appearance. And apart from the orgasm he was convinced Lucifer had been behind, there hadn’t been a word, not even a hint that he was still in the Devil’s service.

Zeke continued to dispatch souls back to Hell. Somehow the job was easier to stomach now. Every bullet that destroyed an eye was revenge for what those bastard demons had done to Lucifer. Against all odds, he missed his irritating, infuriating boss. Every damned soul had his or her pleas, their reasons, their excuses. But those obviously hadn't worked at the pearly gates, and they weren't going to work with Stone.

Something else was different too. Each morning he woke with thirty six dollars and twenty seven cents in his coat pocket, but that was in addition to whatever money he’d left on the bedside table the night before. 

On the Saturday night, Max knocked on his door and demanded he stopped working and moping and take her out for a drink. Zeke had over a hundred dollars. He’d contemplated buying a wallet, hoping this new ability to save was a thank you from the Devil and nothing more serious. 

With beers and shots on the bar in front of them and a game playing on the television behind the bar, Zeke felt oddly content. He was in a bar with a mate; there was nothing more normal than that. 

‘I haven’t seen your friend around this week,’ Max said, and Zeke wasn’t sure if she was just making conversation or actually trying to make a point. ‘Is he okay?’

He sighed, shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I hope so. I mean, I’m sure he is. He has to be, really. I think we’d know if he wasn’t.’

When he finished, he glanced at Max who was staring at him. ‘Okay…. Why is that?’

‘Because….’ He considered the consequences of telling her the truth, but apart from her thinking he’d lost his mind, there didn’t seem to be any rules about secrecy. He’d told a couple of people over the last couple of years and there hadn’t been any lightening strikes or sudden, spontaneous combustion. ‘He’s the Devil.’

She clouted him on the arm. ‘Right, Zeke. You’re friends with the Devil.’

‘He’s my boss.’

'Your boss?'

'Yeah.' He managed to look offended that she'd doubt him. 'I work for him.'

'I thought you were a cop.'

'I am. A cop for hire. And he hired me.' It was sort of the truth.

'Oh.' She finished her beer and reached for a whisky chaser.

'What?'

‘Why would the Devil need the services of a cop for hire?’

He thought he might as well tell her everything so he explained about the break out and the hunt he’d been engaged in for the last two years.  
Max listened, ordered another beer when the barman walked by, but didn’t comment until he was done. Then she said, ‘So where is he now?’

‘Some demons tried to kill him. They almost succeeded but I stopped them, saved his life - such as it is. He went back to Hell to heal. That was a week yesterday. I think he’s okay, I think I’ve heard from him but I haven’t seen him.

‘And that’s unusual?’

‘Are you kidding? Usually I can’t get rid of the guy.’ He sank two shots in quick succession. Strangely, he was starting to feel tipsy. 

‘You miss him.’ She sounded amazed. ‘Aww, Stoney, you miss having Satan popping by for a chat?’  
    
He knew she was winding him up, that she thought he was talking bullshit. He laughed softly. ‘You know, actually, I really do.’

She pushed her arm through his and put her head on his shoulder. ‘So you’re just friends, huh, Zeke?’

He had no idea how to answer that so he didn’t. His stomach was rumbling, which was unusual.

‘Do you want to get Chinese food?’

*

Zeke threw his coat into the chair and yawned. That stopped him in his tracks. He couldn't remember yawning in over seventeen years. The Chinese was sitting heavy in his stomach, his head was aching from the beer and the whisky shots and the Sake in the restaurant. Something was wrong, and he was starting to realise what. 

In the kitchen, Zeke opened the cutlery drawer, put his hand inside and deliberately slammed it shut. Pain zipped along newly awakened nerves, small bones cracked under protest and he howled.

‘What are you doing?’ 

He looked up to see the Devil standing on the other side of the counter, looking perplexed. Looking good. Smelling like he’d just stepped out from under a waterfall. Zeke was certain he’d done that just to bait him because his libido reacted like he hadn’t had sex in seventeen years, which wasn’t even close to right.

’I was starting to think you weren’t coming back.’

‘It took time to heal. And to punish those bastards who killed Jehudiel.’

Despite the dizzying pain in his hand, he couldn’t keep the smile from his face. ’It is… actually good to see you.’ 

‘You too.’ He sounded like he meant it. ‘You’ve been surprisingly busy.’

‘Not much else to do.’

‘I always thought if I left you alone long enough you’d fall back on bad habits.’

Zeke laughed, rubbing his fingers. ‘That’s because you don’t have faith in me.’

‘I do, as a matter of fact.’

There was a strange expression on the oh-so familiar face. And his hand was still hurting. Realisation was starting to creep in around the edges of his consciousness. 

‘What have you done?’

‘I’ve… released you from my service.’

He couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing, even though inside he knew it was right, knew it was real. 'What?'

'I'm giving you the second chance I promised you. Wiping the slate clean.' Lucifer smiled, although it didn’t touch his eyes. 'Don't kill anyone this time and you might get to heaven.'

But Zeke wasn't that far along yet. 'There are still over… sixty damned souls left up here. Who's going to take care of them?'

The Devil walked to the window and beckoned him over. He pointed to a man standing next to the door to the building, back against the wall, hands in his pockets, head bowed.

'Alexander Cassidy. Ex-military. He committed suicide not that long ago. He doesn’t have the experience down below that you have but he knows his way around this modern world.'

Zeke stared at his replacement. From the elevated angle he could see long hair tied back in a dark pony tail, a long trench coat pulled around a tall, lean body.

'What did you promise him?'

‘A second chance. Just like you. Like most suicides, he regrets his actions. Plus, I promised him that I would leave his lover - ex-lover - alone.' There was little triumph in the tone.

'Oh.' Leaning on the windowsill, Zeke glanced to his side and let his gaze linger on Lucifer’s long fingers, fighting the urge to touch. ‘Why free me?'  
      
‘Because you saved my life, Ezekiel, quite literally. I don’t think anyone else would have done.  Certainly none of the other wayward souls up here. If I’d… ceased to exist, you’d have been free. They would all have been free.’

'Umm... thousands of demonic souls roaming the planet. Sounds like fun.’ Lucifer didn’t smile at his sarcasm.

‘It doesn’t matter why you saved me. You did. I owe you a debt of gratitude. You’re alive, Ezekiel Stone. Go and live your life.’

So this was it, his second chance at living, at being happy. He’d always believed the Devil would keep his word, but he’d never imagined how it would feel when it actually happened. ‘Will I see you again?’

‘Not if you behave yourself.’ Now he was alive, Ezekiel could feel the pull of the Devil, temptation incarnate. His entire body seemed to sing in his presence. His dick was painfully hard in his pants. If Lucifer knew the effect he was having, he didn’t show it. ‘Go and find your wife, Ezekiel. Despite my many taunts to the contrary, I’m sure she still loves you, wouldn’t question having you home.’

Still, he couldn't understand what was happening. ‘Why are you doing this?’

'I told you! We had a deal. You went above and beyond for me, I’m doing this to repay you, to thank you.’

‘I didn’t save you because I wanted anything.’

‘Ezekiel!’ Lucifer glared at him in frustration. Zeke glared back in challenge. 'I was an angel, once upon a time. Please, allow me my own meagre attempt at repentance.' 

He shook his head, closed the gap between them in one stride and slipped still aching fingers into the silky black hair. Instead of pushing him back or pulling away, Lucifer started to unfasten his shirt, one button at a time. Zeke’s pulse sky-rocketed. He took a deep breath because he needed the air and closed his eyes because the intensity of this now was far, far more than it had been when he was dead. He felt the hot, sticky air of the apartment touch his bare skin and looked down to watch Lucifer place his hand on his chest.

A sensation like fire spread out over him, stinging for a second before turning to something else. As it went, the tattoos of the names of the damned fell away from him like ashes. Lucifer brushed his hands up over Zeke’s shoulders, skimmed across his back, burning off the runes as they went. One last one, at the back of his neck, stung more than the rest but he ignored it and in a moment he thought might be their last together, he leaned in and pressed his mouth to the Devil’s, pushing his tongue inside, tasting charcoal and toothpaste.

Lucifer returned the kiss and Zeke could taste the longing, the need within it. He stepped forward to bring them closer but the Devil stepped back.

‘I have to go.’

‘No, you don’t. You’re the Devil. You’re supposed to tempt us mortals, aren’t you?’

‘I think you’re the one tempting me, Ezekiel.’ He took a hold of Zeke’s hands, the one he’d slammed in the drawer healing in an instant. ‘Go and live your life. And don’t forget me.’

Then he was gone. Apparently forever.

*

Alex Cassidy smiled as the last tendrils of light were sucked back to Hell. Standing behind him, Lucifer clapped.

'Very good, Alexander, very good.  I am impressed.'

His only response was to pop his dislocated shoulder back into place. ’Onwards and upwards. Who's next?'  

Lucifer frowned. ’You're not going to take a break? Get some food, a drink…?’

'Do I need to?' His willing servant looked down at his own form.  'I thought these bodies were just... tricks.  I didn't realize I needed to look after it.'

'You don't.  You don't need food or drink.  Or sleep for that matter.  Just... Ezekiel used to like to treat himself to what he called the wonders of living.'

'I don't see the point. It would be a waste of time, yours and mine.'  He holstered his weapon and crossed his hands before him.  'Any pointers for me?'

*

Ezekiel was drunk.  

His fourth beer, and the lack of any actual bloodstream for fifteen years, had left him without any resistance to alcohol whatsoever.  Max was beside him, laughing at his difficulty with focusing and pronunciation. Laughing at his seemingly incredible story.  

'I'm telling you the truth.'

'You've been dead?’

'Yeah.'  

'So... who's been paying the rent?'

'The Devil.'

'The Devil?'

'Yeah, you know, Lucifer. The guy I told you about.’

Max picked up her glass thoughtfully. 'I thought you were exaggerating, you know? When people point at axe murders and call them the Devil incarnate?’

‘I wasn’t exaggerating. And he isn’t an axe murderer.’

‘You’re trying to tell me that the actual Devil himself has been paying your bills?'

‘That’s exactly what I’m telling you.' Zeke crossed his arms on the bar and dropped his head onto them, smiling sideways at Max. 'He's not as bad as people think.'

‘The Devil isn’t as bad as we think?' She shook her head. Then she leaned over and stuck her face unceremoniously into his hair. He smelt of apple shampoo. Before, she used to smell ash on him, like he’d been sitting too close to a log fire.

‘If you’re not bullshitting me, then why are you still here?’

‘Because I don’t know what to do with myself now.’ He lifted his head and stared through his beer. ‘I really, really miss him.’ He didn’t mean to say it out loud.

‘Stepping into your psychosis for a second here, if you really have been working for the Devil, and he really has let you go free, you should absolutely embrace your second chance. You have to get on with living.’

He knew she was right. He just wished his life didn’t feel quite so long and empty at that moment. He finished his beer and asked the barman for another. ‘So, Max, what does living entail these days?’

* 

He tried to get a job, but his skills were seventeen years out of date. He got an interview for a position as a night guard at LACMA then realised he would somehow have to buy a suit, which required money, which meant he needed a line of credit.

The banks, all of them, turned him down. All of them wanted two forms of identification which he didn’t have, and proof of a permanent address which he couldn’t get. He returned to his apartment after a full day of disappointment to find a bank card on his pillow and a note written in cursive script which read, ‘Life’s on me. 1666.’

He walked three blocks to the nearest cash point, put in the card and entered the PIN. He requested ‘Show Balance’ and stared at the figure returned for so long that the machine beeped and asked him if he required another service. He pulled out the maximum amount it would allow and took Max out to dinner at Spargos. 

On their way home, in the early hours of the following morning, he stopped to check it again and the figure was the same. It seemed that every morning he would still wake up with the same amount of money he did the previous morning, but instead of thirty six dollars and twenty seven cents, it was three million, six hundred and twenty seven thousand, six hundred and sixty six dollars. And twenty seven cents.

So maybe he wasn't going to worry about getting a job. Maybe he could turn his focus to charity work, to helping people.

‘I think I might buy a house,’ Zeke told Max when they got back to the apartment building. ‘If you don’t mind?’ 

She laughed. ‘No skin off my nose, Stoney. I can always rent a room here.’

‘Come with me. I’d pay you. You can be my personal assistant.’

‘And what would that entail?’

‘I have absolutely no idea.’ He started up the stairs. 

‘Zeke?’ He turned to look at her over his shoulder. ‘Why haven’t you contacted your wife yet? Wasn’t your second chance supposed to include her?’

He hesitated. ‘I think... because that would mean admitting it was over.’

‘What was over?’

He thought the words, but didn’t say them. ‘Good night, Max.’

‘Night, Zeke.’

*

‘I do expect a measure of respect from you,’ the Devil reminded his servant, unflinching at the weapon aimed at his eyes. ‘If you pull the trigger, I swear you’ll be returning with you and you won’t be coming back.’

‘You don’t scare me.’ 

Unfurling his wings, raising his head, Lucifer became something that terrified him.

*

The days didn't exactly fly by. He started working at a shelter that looked after the homeless, generously donating what seemed like reasonable sums of money to provide for more and newer beds, better food, warmer blankets. Most nights he took Max to a different restaurant as he sampled all the cuisine LA had to offer, from a downtown curry to an uptown steak. He bought a house in Santa Monica, took long walks on the beach at sunset and woke up early just to hear the bird song. He bought a car - nothing flashy, but it was a convertible and it didn’t smoke at both ends. It brought a smile to face when, the morning after he drove it off the lot, it was sporting a gold hood ornament, an angel in flight.

Day to day he wasn’t unhappy, but the feeling that something was missing was never far from his mind and he knew without a doubt what that thing was. Every now and again he’d hear something he thought was someone clearing their throat, or get a whiff of sulphur and brimstone, and he’d turn around but no one would be there. With every day that passed, the need for a touch, for just a word from the Devil, grew inside of him.

*

'Old habits die hard, ay Zeke?'

Ezekiel looked up from his coffee, stared at the blonde woman standing beside his table and the electrical imperative went from his brain to his hand to reach for his gun before he remembered it wasn’t there. He no longer carried one. Ash slipped into the seat opposite him.

She stared at him for a time before shaking her head, incredulous expression on her face. ‘So it is true. Don’t worry, Zeke, I’m not here to hurt you. You’re no longer a threat to me.’

More than the surprise in seeing her was the surprise in seeing her as he’d known her, at least for a while as he’d… liked her very much. ‘I thought you’d become a brunette.’

She laughed and perched on the seat beside him. ‘Turns out… people don’t have faith the way they used to and those who do don’t necessarily need a sacred roof over their heads to do it. I started to get the feeling I could take out every church on earth and not make any difference. Those who worship will do so anywhere but there are a greater number of those who don’t. And how many gods would I have to wipe out?’ She shook her head. ‘I went back to being a detective. I can have more fun that way, maybe help out with the clear up.’

‘You? Help send demons back to Hell?’

‘Only those who are in my way.’

‘Wasn’t I in your way?’

‘I didn’t know who you were and by the time I did….’ She shrugged. He knew what she meant, he’d felt the same way which was why he’d hesitated and she’d gone free, much to the annoyance of Lucifer. ‘Why did he let you go?’

The corners of Ezekiel's mouth turned up. 'I saved his immortal soul.' Spoken with as much irony as he could muster.

She nodded. ‘So that’s true too. You must remind me to thank you for that one day.'

‘Not that it isn’t good to see you, but what do you want, Ash?'

The waitress came to take her order and she asked for coffee. 

'Did you ever ask yourself why he could always point you in the right direction, but never do the actual deed himself?'

‘He did that once. There were consequences.’

‘But he’s the Devil. Don’t you think he should have the power to get back what he lost?’

'Listen, you’re chatting up the wrong guy now. it’s nothing to do with me anymore.’

The waitress put down a mug on the counter in front of her and filled it. Ash smiled up at her and the young girl blushed. ’He didn't tell you about me, did he?'

Zeke shook his head. ’He wouldn’t tell me anything about you. He strenuously denied ever having been in love with you.’

‘Of course he did because that part is true. I didn’t think he had the capacity for love.’

‘Didn’t think?’

She stared at him. ‘Well look at you. You’ve been given your second chance, no strings, yet you didn’t fulfil your bargain with him.’

‘I saved his life. I don’t know how many of us would have done that.’

‘Why did you?’

He hesitated. ‘I figured Hell probably needs someone to keep it in check.’

‘Another would have taken his place.’

‘Exactly. And better the Devil you know, right?’

She sipped her coffee, 'Could it be, Zeke, that Satan has no power up here?'  

‘It could be.’ It would explain the petty mischiefs Lucifer had favoured while in his company over the exquisite torture he was capable of down below. ‘Like I said, nothing to do with me now.’

‘That’s it. Fifteen years in his embrace and two years in his service and you really just… walked away?’ He nodded. He couldn’t say it out loud because that would be lying through his teeth and she’d probably know it. ’And now he's got another lap-dog.'

He turned to her, still smiling. ‘What is it that you actually want?’

‘To catch up with an old friend.’

‘Me or him?’ She didn’t answer. ‘Are you jealous?’

'Of what?’ She did her best to sound like it was a ridiculous idea but he new he was on to something.

‘Of me. Of the new guy. Of anyone he’s lavishing his attentions on now instead of you?’

‘Of course not. He was once my lover. Now he's the enemy.'

'He's the Devil. He’s not the enemy. And if you’re right, all you need to do is stay out of the way of the new guy he’s got doing his dirty work for him and you’ll be just fine.’

She finished her coffee and stood.  'It was good to see you again.'

Zeke nodded, still confused as to the nature of and the reason for her surprise visit.  'Yeah.  I think.'

'Next time you see him, give him my best.'

With a shrug, he reminded her, 'I'm alive now, Ash. I’m hoping never to see him again.'

She tilted her head, a genuine smile replacing the snake-like one she’d been wearing. ‘You’re lying.’ She sounded surprised. ‘You miss him too.’ There was something close to understanding in her words. ‘As you said, he’s the Devil. You never really get over that.’

He watched her go as he finished his coffee.

*

Lucifer stood by and watched as one of the oldest of his wayward flock sank the double-pointed blade deep into Alex's eyes, sat back and straddled his shaking body to enjoy the ride as he writhed beneath her. Her head thrown back, she saw the Devil, standing against the wall and with a snarl, she vanished.

'I'm very disappointed, Alexander.' He had to shout to be heard above the inhuman screeching, a soul in agony.

'Save me.’ He pleaded in vain, trying to reach for help.

‘No.’

‘Save me the way you saved him!’ 

’You assume too much.'

'Why?'  He question went unanswered.

The ground beneath them opened up, the illusion of humanity was left behind and the Devil accompanied his servant back to the pit. Lucifer stretched his true form to its magnificent height and lashed out in frustration as the heat consumed them.  

*

When he wasn’t out with Max, Zeke spent his evenings walking or catching up on fifteen years of baseball games. Max taught him how to use the internet and he sometimes lost days trawling the vast, connected planet.

A year passed more quickly than he knew and he almost didn’t realise the significance of the date. Almost. 

‘Happy anniversary, Ezekiel.’

As soon as he laid eyes on the Devil his body moved without conscious thought. He grabbed Lucifer’s wrists and pushed him up against the rose gold painted wall of his bedroom, holding his hands either side of his head, leaning in to practically assault his mouth. That Lucifer allowed it said something loud and clear, but Zeke was too far gone to hear it. The narrow wrists felt so fragile in his grip, the taste of that tongue in his mouth was a nectar he’d been too long without. 

He was hard and aching in a heartbeat.

‘Ezekiel….’ The sound of his name cleared the lust glazed fog from his head and he stepped back, shocked at himself, letting go. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to apologise, but the Devil wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, touched him just at the top of his spine, thumb rubbing a spot under his hairline, and the result was him coming in his pants.

For a moment he was blinded by the strength of it, then there was a second when he thought his legs would give out.

‘There’s a reason you can’t stop thinking about me, and I’m sorry.’ His hand dropped to Zeke’s chest, fingers toying with a button on his shirt but not slipping it. 

‘What did you do?’ There was no anger in the question, simply curiosity. The Devil looked the same as he had done a year ago when he’d released Ezekiel from his servitude. And nothing had happened to dispel Zeke’s attraction to him. He was the Devil after all.

‘I left my name on you, tattooed on your body, there, on the back of your neck.’

A chuckle escaped but it was an afterthought. He should have known, really. ‘Why?’

‘Because… no one has ever touched me the way you touched me that night, in your apartment. No one has ever looked at me the way you do, treated me or talked to me the way you do. The last time anyone showed me even the slightest kindness was before the dawn of mankind. I couldn’t let that go, couldn’t just give you up and walk away.’

‘Then why let me go at all?’

‘Because you saved my life. You saved the Devil and I should have let you go but I… I’m unexpectedly weak when it comes to you.’

They were so close, all Zeke wanted to do was get his mouth back on that long neck, to taste what he’d been missing. His sudden, unexpected orgasm had done nothing to dispel his need for Lucifer. ’So why are you here?’

‘To remove the mark, to let you go as I should have done last year.’ He raised his hand, and Ezekiel caught it.

‘No. Leave it.’

The Devil looked genuinely confused. ‘Why?’

‘Because… Ros has moved on. I can’t be a part of her life. I thought I could, when I first got back it was all I thought about, but I can’t. I’ve lost her. I don’t want to lose you too.’

To say Lucifer looked surprised would be an understatement. ‘Zeke… If I wasn’t me, I’d be flattered.’ In a voice like black treacle, he went on. ‘This is supposed to be your second chance at life, a second chance you fought for, worked for, raged against me for. I gave you what you want.’

‘Except that you made it so you’re all I think about.’ He couldn’t find it in himself to be more angry about it.

‘I’m trying to undo that! To do the right thing! Don’t you understand how out of character that is for me?’ Zeke just smiled. A flustered Devil was something to behold. ‘Don’t you want to live? To get out there again, meet someone, fall in love?’ There was a very slight edge of desperation in his voice at the end.

Ezekiel kept a hold of his wrist but loosened his death grip somewhat, stroking his thumb up into the palm of his hand. ‘I think that’s what I am doing.’

Lucifer shook his head, denying it. ‘No.’ He was adamant. ‘You’re not. It’s the mark.’

'Did I get too close?  Is that it? You've been hurt before and I honesty don’t want to be the one to hurt you again.'

'You don't know what you're talking about.' The quiet statement was barely audible but he heard it nonetheless.

'Don't I?  You think I don't know your history? You obviously want me.’

‘It was a mistake! One I’m trying to correct!’

‘Was your name tattooed on me with all the others?’

‘No. I told you…..’

‘How many people had sex with you without coercion?’

He sighed, the sound of suffering, ’I’m the Devil, Ezekiel, a detail you seem to be forgetting. Down below I’m what everyone fears, the source of all suffering. I am their every horror, their torment, their eternal damnation.’

‘So why do you look like a guy who could so easily be the kid I used to beat up in high school?’

‘Really? I think that says more about you than me.’

‘You didn’t answer my question.’

‘What do you want me to say? I’m as old as time. Sex doesn’t interest me any longer.’

Zeke pressed himself against the wiry body, chest to groin. Lucifer’s erection lined up against the base of his own. ‘I beg to differ.’

‘This is different. These human vessels, they’re very… demanding.’

‘Have you done this with Alex?’

‘Alex… didn’t work out.’

He was ashamed at the smile that tugged at his mouth. ’There’s a surprise. What did he do?’

‘He wasn’t you.’ He made it sound like a confession dragged from the depths of Hell. 

With a smug laugh, Ezekiel stepped back. 

So… let’s make a deal.’

It was a low move, he was the Devil, he couldn’t resist the offer of a bargain, a contract. ’What kind of deal?’

‘I’ll round up the rest of your wayward souls. You make sure they can’t kill me. And you leave the mark.’ 

‘Is that what you want? To be branded?’

‘I want them to know who I am. I want them to know I’m yours.’

Lucifer didn’t respond, didn’t speak, didn’t accept or decline. But Zeke saw the movement in his throat, was certain it would be an offer he couldn’t resist. The Devil flexed his hand, and Zeke tightened his grip, suddenly not so sure. But the Devil was too strong. It felt as if a thousand bees were stinging him all at once, a once familiar pain, and he cried out in protest as the ancient name as it burnt away from his skin. The moment it was gone he felt keenly like a part of him was missing, like he wasn’t complete. There were tears, sudden and shocking, leaking from his eyes.

‘Sush.’ Hot fingertips brushed his throat, over his collarbone. The relief, when that lost part of him was returned, was so intense it almost took his legs out from under him. He would have stumbled forward had the Devil’s hand flat against his chest not stopped him from falling. He looked down and could see the base of an oval pendent, obsidian black, snug against him, just below the hollow of his throat. He touched what felt like leather cord around his neck. He followed it with his fingers but couldn’t find a fastening.

‘This is my name on your skin. You and only you can remove it. One forceful tug and it’ll come away and turn to ash. And you’ll never see me again. Unless, of course, you do something to deserve it.’ Zeke covered it with his hand, already protective and possessive. ‘Nothing and no one, not of earth or Hell, can damage it except for you.’

Feeling like a weight had lifted from him, Zeke once again stepped closer, leaning in to breathe the heavy scene of brimstone, sulphur, and apple shampoo. ’Do we have a deal?’

‘Are you sure it’s what you want?’ The catch in Lucifer’s voice was hugely satisfying. 

‘I’m sure.’

‘And what when you’re done?’

‘Maybe I’ll get a job as a bounty hunter.’ Zeke touched his mouth to Lucifer’s neck, just below his ear. ‘Do we have a deal?’

‘We have a deal.’

Ezekiel made a grab for the Devil’s hands, pinned them back over his head and pressed their mouths together. He swallowed a low moan that could have come from either of them. He was hard, aching, a year of frustration coursing through him, searching for release. 

‘Bed, Ezekiel,’ came a soothing whisper in his ear. ‘I’m far to old to do it up against a wall.’

*

Zeke woke and flopped onto his back, all the movement his aching body would allow at that moment. He was alone, he’d expected nothing more, but the Devil had stayed a while afterwards, at least until dawn, curled around Ezekiel like a snake. He’d been certain he’d felt a forked tail against his leg in the early hours, but he meant have dreamt it. Sharing a bed wth Satan would do that to a man, he reasoned.

After a while, his stomach joined in the cacophony of general complaints from his body and Zeke gave in and rolled off the mattress, planting his feet in the sinfully thick carpet.

He took a piss and started to brush his teeth the same way he’d done every morning before he’d gone to Hell and after he’d returned. Old habits died hard it seemed. As usual, he didn’t remain in the en suite, rather he liked to wonder over to the bedroom window as he brushed, to look out over the expensive neighbourhood, at the child minders taking the kids off to school while the parents set off to work in shiny BMWs and Mercedes. He didn’t fit here at all, everyone else wondered about him, and he took an evil satisfaction in that.

Clearly, Lucifer had rubbed off on him. So to speak. He raised one hand to touch the cool pendent that hung around his neck, the slight weight already natural. He turned back into the room. There was an envelope on the bedside table, leaning against the lamp, and smiling around his toothbrush, Zeke opened it. He’d half expected a copy of the contract they’d agreed to, or a document claiming possession of his soul. Anything but a love letter. Instead, he unfolded a long list of names, addresses and useful details: 

Stanley Coleman - 15567 Milton Street, Marathon, Florida - died 1922, 4 bodies found buried in his yard missing organs (cannibal)  
Margaret Fosbrook - Appleyard Farm, Austin, Texas - died 1891, suicide after murdering her entire family over Thanksgiving Dinner (sweet old lady, makes nice cakes)

‘You had all these, all this time?’ No one answered but Zeke knew he was heard. 

With the same amusement and affection that had coloured his life for the last three years, he took the list with him when he went to get breakfast. He needed a plan of attack, and no one - human or demon - could be expected to work on an empty stomach.

 


End file.
